Injury Breakdown: Lamar Jackson - BAL

Lamar Jackson is a fascinating case of what the effect of rushing has on a quarterback in the current NFL game. When he's healthy, he's arguably the most electric and entertaining quarterback in all of football. The problem is, he's missed two straight postseasons and 10 games total over the last two seasons due to injury. An ankle sprain and bone bruise caused him to miss four games in 2021. Last year, he had a PCL injury that cost him another six games to end the season.

Now, missing the fantasy playoffs twice in as many years is incredibly frustrating for fantasy gamers. I know how it feels to have Lamar Jackson crush it for you all year and then lose in the fantasy playoffs because he's not healthy. But the fact remains, when he is healthy, he is an incredible asset for your fantasy teams. He was sixth in average fantasy points per game last year at the quarterback position, seventh in 2021, eighth in 2020, and led the league in fantasy points in 2019. That's four straight years of elite production for Lamar Jackson when he's healthy.

So, I guess the question is, do I think Lamar Jackson is going to be healthy next year? Now, looking at his injury history, nothing really stands out here from a re-injury risk perspective. And I agree with what he said last year when he said that the injury he had was significant enough to miss the rest of the year. There was some debate on if he was kind of dogging it to get this new contract that he got. He wanted to try to preserve his health long term so he could get the bag. And I can understand where those rumors came from. But let's be honest, a grade 2 PCL tear, which is what he said he had, takes anywhere from two to four months to completely heal.

The good news about a PCL tear is that they rarely recur, and the PCL actually heals itself very well, even without surgery. So, I fully expect Lamar Jackson to not only be ready Week One, but I think he's going to absolutely blow up next year from a fantasy perspective. He's on my draft list.